New Canine Lymphangiectasia Support Forum!

A few months ago we started a support community in Yahoo Groups, which has steadily grown in size.  Every day, more and more visitors come to this site, seeking information about this disease.  We're finding Yahoo Groups to be too limiting for our needs, and so I am spending some time over this long weekend putting together a web-based forum for canine lymphangiectasia support.  It is my hope that this format will be easier to use and provide a better way for us to keep information available and organized.

Thank you to all who have expressed interest in this venture.  You can now visit the new forum at:  http://www.savelouie.com/phpBB3 . We are still very much in the early stages, with much housekeeping to do, but please drop by.

Peas!

The soy protein over the long term seems to be a little rough for Louie, though he's doing far better with it than he did with any of the meats or fish I tried.  However, I have been giving him nothing but the canned Royal Canin Digestive Low Fat (pre-formula change stuff) for the past few weeks and he's looking far healthier since I stopped the tofu.  So I am now on a quest for other protein sources that I can feed him.

Tonight we added peas to the Honest Kitchen mix in place of the tofu and gave him that mixed with the Royal Canin.  Peas are high in protein, and very low in fat.  I wanted to try them next, because he seems to do better with vegetable matter than with meat, in general.

So far he seems to be holding it all down well with no signs of gastrointestinal distress.  We'll see how he does tomorrow.

I also have another food on order that I'm going to try, as well.  Hopefully we can get him nutritionally strong again, and keep him that way for a while.  Wish us luck!

Lymphangiectasia is NOT a death sentence

I've encountered several people over the past few months whose vets have told them, upon making a diagnosis of lymphangiectasia, that they need to be prepared for the inevitable likelihood of euthanasia.  In some cases this may have been the kinder course, but in other cases, where the dogs are not that far gone, I am not so sure.

All I can say is, thank goodness my own vets did not give up or let me give up.  I surely wanted to, a few times.

The truth is, there is just not a whole lot of information available about what works with this disease.  In complicated cases, such as ours, there is even less.

But, there are many survivors, and it helps to keep all of this in mind when considering the best course in your own case.

I'm not saying that the vets are wrong in what they know or that you should not follow their advice.  There are important components to treating this disease, and it is important for you to know that, if you have a vet who wants to throw in the towel, you should talk to another vet before making a decision.